Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Review: Cast Member Confidential: A Disneyfied Memoir by Chris Mitchell

Cast Member Confidential by Chris MitchellDescription (courtesy of Goodreads.com):

What do you do when everything in your life falls apart? If you're Chris Mitchell, you run away from home--all the way to Disney World, a place where no one ever dies--and employees, known as Cast Members, aren't allowed to frown. Mitchell shares the behind-the-scenes story of his year in the Mouse's army. From his own personal Disneyfication, to what really happens in the hidden tunnels beneath the Magic Kingdom and what not to eat at the Mousketeria, it was a year filled with more adventure--and surprises--than he could ever have "imagineered."

Funny and moving, Mitchell tracks his ascent through the backstage social hierarchy in which princesses rule, and his escapades in the "Ghetto" where Cast Members live and anything goes. Along the way, he unmasks the misfits and drop-outs, lifers and nomads who leave their demons at the stage door as they preserve the magic that draws millions to this famed fantasyland--the same magic that Mitchell seeks and ultimately finds in the last place he ever expected.

I recently decided that this year, I would take my tax refund and the extra pay I'll be getting for not using sick time and take a vacation to celebrate my 30th birthday, which is in July. I was considering either Universal Studios, because I'm a huge Harry Potter fan and wanted to check out the Wizarding World park, or Disney, because, aside from Disneyland Paris when I was eighteen, I haven't been to Disney in over twenty years.

Note: There are still spoilers below, not just for the book, but the inner workings of Disney World. Consider yourselves warned.

I had read about this book on Amazon, I think, when searching or books about Disney or some such thing. I downloaded a sample to my Kindle, expecting just a behind-the-scenes look at one of the world's most iconic vacation spots.

Mitchell delivered on that front, describing in detail what it was like to be a professional photographer at Walt Disney World. He explained the theory of how Disney treats its guests and how ironclad a grip it has on things that go on within the park. He told stories of how as the new kid on campus he had to earn the trust of his fellow employees, who lived within a caste system based not only what their job was, but what type. Characters were the top the pyramid, but all-fur characters (such as Mickey) were beneath "face" characters, whose actual faces were on display. At the pinnacle, were the Disney Princesses.

Mitchell described the audition process and how characters are typed based on height and build. For example, because of height restrictions, most Mickey characters were female.

Although I enjoyed the behind-the-scenes stuff (which was, after all, why I started reading in the first place) I was quickly invested in Mitchell as a character. We learn early on that his mother has been diagnosed with cancer and his parents are trying to keep it from him. He learns about this from his brother, from whom he is more or less estranged. He loses his job and his girlfriend. His reaction to it all is to go get a job at Disney World, the one place from his childhood that was sacred to him.

Mitchell gets a job in Disney's Animal Kingdom snapping photos of children with Disney characters, which are then sold to the parents at a high markup. At first he struggles a bit with fitting in with the Disney culture, and also with making friends with his co-workers.

He goes to some trouble before he does finally earn their respect, and rises fairly high in the social strata of the Disney caste system. Still, all that glitters is not gold, as they say. He eventually manages to lose both his job and his girlfriend (an "Ariel" named Calico who turned out not to be what she seemed). However, he does gain some valuable perspective, so although that was a hard blow for the reader, it didn't sink the ship for me.

There were a couple of spots where I could have used a little more fiction and a little less fact. For example, when it comes out that Calico has been false, even though he was warned about her from the start I would have liked to have seen a more gradual change in her character. She went from Ariel to Cruella DeVil too quickly.

Still, it's an enjoyable read with an engaging narrator who is dealt a rough hand and attempts to deal with it in the best way he can think of, and it came with an insider look at Walt Disney World.

About Me

I'm a writer from Long Island, NY. I have my bachelor's from SUNY Potsdam in English Literature/Writing, have four and a half years' experience providing email technical support for a Flash-based web-hosting service and am now looking for work as a technical writer.